Briefly, the invention relates to archery equipment in general and to those archery devices known as arrow holders in particular.
Continuous arrow emplacement from the time an arrow is first strung until it is shot is extremely important to certain and of some importance to virtually all archery activities. For purposes of this description, "emplacement" means a position of an arrow in which the arrow nock properly engages the bow string and the arrow shaft rests upon the arrow rest (or archer's knuckles or finger if the bow doesn't include an arrow rest). Continuous emplacement is perhaps most important for certain forms of target shooting known as shooting "rounds", and for game hunting. One form of "round" target shooting consists of a plurality of targets which may be placed along a course on terrain including heavy brush, woods, hills, creeks and all manner of natural obstacles. Targets may also be placed to surprise a contestant to provide a test of reflex action shooting skill. According to one version of scoring such round target shooting, a contestant is timed for the length of time required to traverse the course from start to finish and shoot at each target in sequence. In addition to this time, a contestant's total score is also based on his shooting accuracy. Having an arrow continuously in emplacement after racing along difficult terrain, particularly upon suddenly being confronted with a target, is obviously important to either or both reducing a contestant's time or increasing the accuracy of a shot. Game hunting can also include the elements of reflex action shooting and rough terrain which makes it difficult if not impossible for a hunter to continuously have an arrow ready to be drawn and shot without the aid of an arrow holder. For inexperienced archers, means which provide continuous arrow emplacement is important even for passive activities such as archery range target shooting. To illustrate, an inexperienced archer will sometimes cause an arrow shaft to move sideways while drawing the arrow to a fully-drawn position, causing the arrow to drop downwards or otherwise frustrate completion of the shot.
An object of the present invention is an arrow holder for providing correct arrow emplacement.
Another object of the present invention is an arrow holder which continuously provides correct arrow emplacement while a bow and strung arrow are being carried about in a non-shooting position, while an arrow is being drawn to a fully-drawn position, and while an arrow is being held in a fully-drawn position.
A further object of the present invention is an arrow holder which releases an arrow for free flight in response to forward movement of an arrow shaft.
An additional object of the present invention is an arrow holder substantially free of interference to free flight of an arrow.
Still another object of the present invention is an arrow holder which after an arrow is strung is responsive to an initial forward movement of the arrow to increase the holding force applied to the arrow and oppose unstringing of an arrow.